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Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank (Paperback)

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Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank + All Rise: Somebodies, Nobodies, and the Politics of Dignity (BK Currents (Hardcover)) + Dignity for All: How to Create a World Without Rankism
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fuller, former president of Oberlin College, believes there is an insidious force in America that has heretofore gone unrecognized. This "disorder without a name," which he terms "rankism," is discrimination beyond race, gender or educational background. While Fuller observed rankism in action both at Oberlin and as a physics professor at Columbia University, he was only able to fully identify it when he was no longer affiliated with a university. "Lacking the protection of title and status in the years after Oberlin, I experienced what it's like to be taken for a nobody." Fuller goes on to describe the various forms of rankism: scientists taking credit for the work of assistants, nursing home staff treating elderly patients poorly, priests sexually abusing churchgoers, etc. Rankism is an assault on personal dignity and should not be tolerated, says Fuller. According to the author, the condition exists because "rank is linked to power and power protects those who hold it" and "high rank inhibits protests and shields perpetrators." Fuller provides numerous examples, from family dynamics to corporate settings. Although some may argue rankism is just another form of racism, Fuller makes a persuasive case for recognizing this behavior as an abuse of power that transcends race-or gender. But the book falls short of providing enough concrete steps on how to fight this abuse, including only two brief chapters.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.


Product Description

When discrimination is race-based, we call it racism; when it's gender-based, we call it sexism. Somebodies and Nobodies introduces rank-based discrimination-or "rankism"-a form of injustice that everyone knows, but no one sees. It explains our reluctance to confront rankism, shows where analyses based on identity fall short and, using dozens of examples, traces many forms of injustice and unfairness to rankism.

". . . a wonderful and tremendously important book on the 'ism' that is far more encompassing than racism, sexism or ageism. 'Rankism' must be our prime target from now on in. Viva Fuller!"-Studs Terkel, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Working

Robert Fuller served as president of Oberlin College and subsequently worked internationally as a "citizen diplomat." He lives in Berkeley, California.

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Product Details

  • Paperback: 208 pages
  • Publisher: New Society Publishers (April 1, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0865714878
  • ISBN-13: 978-0865714878
  • Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #529,216 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Robert W. Fuller
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Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank
80% buy the item featured on this page:
Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank 4.3 out of 5 stars (31)
$11.96
All Rise: Somebodies, Nobodies, and the Politics of Dignity (BK Currents (Hardcover))
10% buy
All Rise: Somebodies, Nobodies, and the Politics of Dignity (BK Currents (Hardcover)) 4.7 out of 5 stars (12)
$15.61
Dignity for All: How to Create a World Without Rankism
5% buy
Dignity for All: How to Create a World Without Rankism 4.7 out of 5 stars (6)
$12.55
Battles between Somebodies and Nobodies: Combat Abuse of Rank at Work and at Home
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Battles between Somebodies and Nobodies: Combat Abuse of Rank at Work and at Home 4.5 out of 5 stars (12)
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Customer Reviews

31 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (31 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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42 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Seeing through the social fog, May 1, 2003
By Linne Gravestock (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank (Hardcover)
This is the book that I'm giving my friends for Christmas. I can't recommend it highly enough! It has sharpened my vision when I look at the everyday life around me, and how I cope with my family's attempts at manipulation and how I evaluate what I read in history, or in the newspaper or what I see on TV.
Even after all the work that we might have done in changing our attitudes about racism, sexism and any other ism we've known about, there's still been a lurking discomfort that we might not have been able to put our fingers on. This is what Robert Fuller calls "rankism."
Once you read this book, you'll see how rankism infects every aspect of our lives.
The signals can be very subtle, as in the old hooks that snare us when we turn into children in the presence of our parents. But now this author has articulated what we might not have been able to and given us ways to cope with things that we may have had only a felt sense about.
Until a few weeks ago, I enjoyed watching "The West Wing" on TV. The writing is so smart, so snappy, the actors were who I wish were running the country. Then last night C. J. Craig condescended to a new employee, telling him how little she thought of him as he was about 17 steps below her in rank. I felt a little stab of pain, as some of the pleasure was removed from the one show I looked forward to seeing.
Another interesting take on how rankism affects us all concerns the way certain U.S. Indian tribes are flipping the status they've had to endure for several centuries. With the advent of casinos and money, tribes are now standing up and saying, "We're still here. We count. We have clout. You can't ignore us or roll over us anymore." How they express this new power is a mirror image of the ways they were treated, and it's greatly unsettling to many politicians, townspeople near them, and casino visitors.
I'd like to take issue with one point in the editorial review which said, "...the book falls short of providing enough concrete steps on how to fight this abuse, including only two brief chapters."
Think about it: was there any one book that told us during the civil rights era what racism was and how to combat it, any one book with neat social recipes that required no more suggestions, training, or thought? What was needed then is exactly what is needed now--- many people thinking about how rankism robs us of our dignity and often wealth and health and our very lives. And each of us will confront differing situations which will require creativity and courage and hard thought. This is the book that begins to hone our awareness. Many more books will have to be written about how people confronted and defused or resolved the problems that this mindset engenders.
This book is a well-written opening statement. Maybe he'll write another one that contains the many stories of what people saw after they were aware of rankism and what they did about it. We can only hope so.
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Dignity is non-negotiable, May 11, 2003
By ian stonington (Boulder, CO) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank (Hardcover)
I bought Somebodies and Nobodies in addition to Collins' Good to Great and am deeply grateful that i found both these books at the same time. Collins showed how "great" companies eliminate rankism from the work environment, but Fuller's book gives even more context and breadth to this issue.

This book clearly and powerfully puts into words an underlying issue that takes great courage to expose--that discrimination based on rank is no more justified than descrimination based on race or gender.

Throughout this book Fuller shows that he aims to protect others' dignity as he would his own.

Many thanks to both these authors for their contributions to my personal and professional life!

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23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars A noble concept buried in a dry book, April 8, 2005
By Andrew W. Johns "ResQgeek" (Alexandria, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)      
The underlying premise of this book, that all people deserve to be treated with equal dignity, is an old concept, often embodied in the Golden Rule ("Do unto others as you'd have done unto yourself"). However, the primary point here seems to be that creating a new terminology will enable a more productive discussion of the abuses of rank that rob people of their dignity. Whether such a discussion would inevitably lead to the societal changes suggest here is unclear, but the goals are certainly admirable.

However noble the author's intentions, this book is a bit of a chore to read. The arguments quickly become repetitive, and the text is quite dry. I wasn't full drawn into the book, and frequently found my attention wandering. The most interesting portions of the book are the anecdotes, which serve to illustrate the author's points quite clearly. Aside from these brief highlights, much of the rest of the book is heavy and cumbersome, required a great deal of focus to read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars bleh
This is what feminists and civil rights activists have been arguing for over a century... just re-phrased by an upper-class white male - how typical!
Published 8 months ago by L. Seaman

5.0 out of 5 stars Thank God I've got a name for "IT!"
Fuller contends that the underlying cause of discrimination of any kind (race, gender, age, etc.) is "rankism. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Jack Bender

4.0 out of 5 stars A solution for Abuse of Rank
Fuller has captured one of the most neglected areas of abuse in our day to day life: pulling rank. As Fuller unfolds, every human being at some point in their day or week will... Read more
Published 19 months ago by David L. Neidert

3.0 out of 5 stars Loss of Human Dignity Revealed Through Rankism
Short on pages but long on words, this book focuses well on one topic only: power and its abuse through rankism, with the consequent loss of human dignity. Read more
Published 22 months ago by G. Charles Steiner

5.0 out of 5 stars Brings something ugly out of the closet and into the Sun.
Yes, I gave this book a "five", but that's not because it is a "classic" book that people will be reading fifty years from now. It's more of a "four", I suppose. Read more
Published on September 24, 2007 by T. Smith

4.0 out of 5 stars I like the author... he's a nice guy
I just read this strange book:" Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the the Abuse of Rank".
Bad manners and evil people are always going to be around:
so are nobodies... Read more
Published on January 24, 2007 by R. Bagula

5.0 out of 5 stars I am gladdened that a somebody -a Somebody-minted this 21st c. concept
Fuller truly breaks ground here and starts the conversation by using real life examples to elucidate the tacit hierachy that shifts and blends and reverses itself as we go... Read more
Published on August 27, 2006 by kooky Kid

5.0 out of 5 stars Rank and Servant-leadership
The purpose for writing this book, the author told us in a foreword, "is to break the taboo on the subject of rank, and reexamine the prerogatives that accompany status in... Read more
Published on August 13, 2006 by Richard W. Cummins

5.0 out of 5 stars ONE OF THE MANY PINK ELEPHANTS IN SOCIETY
I read this book while completing a leadership training program in New York City. How fortunate to discover this book and to be able to share it with my colleagues as we were... Read more
Published on July 28, 2006 by Griot Lover

4.0 out of 5 stars I don't have a title!
This book was quite intriguing. While I like this book and its general theme I do realize that not everyone will share my out look on this text. Robert W. Read more
Published on May 22, 2006 by no title

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